35-year old, Ian Rodriguez, has been accused of killing his son and torturing his wife and four of his other children.  Mr. Rodriguez appeared in San Bernadino Superior Court yesterday Morning to plead not guilty to all the charges.  Mr. Rodriguez is being held without bail for the serious and violent felony charges of torture, child abuse, attempted murder, and murder.

If the charges are found to be true, Mr. Rodriguez faces several consecutive life sentences in state prison.  He is alleged to have repeatedly assaulted his wife and children with a monkey wrench, threatened to light them on fire, and made them walk on broken glass during 11 hours of alleged torture.  Mr. Rodriguez’s eldest son eventually died from the severe beating he received.

As a criminal defense attorney who has practiced often in the San Bernadino County courts, and also has handled countless violent crimes cases, this story does appear gruesome in the alleged details.  However, if there is one thing I have learned over the years as a criminal defense lawyer is: there are two sides to every story.  This is not to say that even the smartest, most aggressive criminal defense attorney could find something legally or morally defensible in these alleged acts of torture, if these acts are proved true; however, there are certainly unknown factors at play: drug and/or alcohol addiction, mental illness on Mr. Rodriguez’s part.

If you, or someone you love, has been accused of a violent crime, then call and consult with an experienced and compassionate violent crimes attorney at The Law Offices of Karen L. Goldstein: (888) 445-6313.

Finally, some media attention on cops behaving badly, which by the way, they do all the time.  Now I know as a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles, I have my biases.  Clearly, I deal with law enforcement on a regular basis and most of the time it is in an adversarial, confrontational manner.  However, no matter what one might day about my ideological slant and skepticism towards law enforcement, police officers and sheriffs and CHP are just like everyone else, they lie. 

Officer Jeffrey Stenroos falsely reported that a burglary suspect, armed with a gun, had attempted to shoot him in the chest while he was on patrol bear El Camino High School in the San Fernando Valley area.    In response to his false attempted murder and burglary report, over 350 police and deputies arrived on scene to assist in the manhunt for the suspect and nine different schools were placed on lock down while the manhunt occurred. After the alleged attempted murder incident, Officer Stenroos claims he was saved by his bullet-proof vest. Well, apparently he completely lied about the entire incident.  Sadly, this is just one egregious example of the type of officer misconduct that I have witnessed over the course of my criminal defense cases throughout the years in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley courts.  Specifically, when it comes to officer involved shootings, when the alleged shooting suspects are themselves seriously injured or die as a result, I always wonder what really happened here.  I can’t remember ever reading a news article about a Los Angeles police officer who fired his gun too quickly, killing a young minority from the inner city, and then admitted he did not have the right to use deadly force. It just doesn’t happen but at least media attention on Officer Stenroos will show the public that law enforcement isn’t even half as squeaky clean ethically as the public would like to think.

If you, or a loved one, has been involved with an attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon case, or any other type of violent crime case, then call and speak with an experienced and aggressive criminal defense attorney at the Law Offices of Karen L. Goldstein: (888) 445-6313.