By Samia Gazi
WEST COVINA, CA – Judge Joan C. Chrostek sentenced the accused to three years in state prison at a probation violation hearing here in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week, despite arguments from the Deputy Public Defender Joseph Chang a charged “altercation” was more of a verbal argument between the accused and a probation program employee.
At the beginning of the hearing, the DPD Chang announced the accused had waived his hearing rights, and the judge initially ruled the court decided to give the accused suspended time.
The prosecution communicated that she had in her possession a letter from an employee involved in the incident, in which the employee expressed that the accused would be “better suited for a different program.”
Judge Chrostek explained the accused had been dropped from the program because of an “altercation” with an employee, although DPD Chang argued the conflict was a verbal argument and not an altercation.
As of currently, the accused has accumulated 113 custody credits and in total has served 177 days in custody.
Judge Chrostek then changed the initial ruling of suspended time, stating, “If there is any violation, three years is imposed.”
At the end, the accused admitted to the violation. Judge Chrostek sentenced the accused to three years in state prison to be served locally and that any mandatory fees would not be suspended.
