LOS ANGELES, CA – Judge Lauren Weis Birnstein this week here in Los Angeles County Superior Court revoked the accused’s probation sentence and sent her to jail for 12 days after the accused admitted she failed to complete her 100-day community service sentence because of her homeless status.
The accused was given probation after a hit-and-run case where the accused pleaded to accessory after the fact. The accused was ordered to complete a community service requirement to fulfill the misdemeanor sentence.
When asked to provide proof of community service, Deputy Public Defender John Myers said the accused has been homeless during the “entire period” of her probation and has struggled to fulfill the requirement due to her living situation.
The accused added she had been “living in motels” with her husband and three-year-old child. Additionally, the accused stated her husband was unemployed and she had just been re-hired by her old job and would have to travel from Orange County to Westwood by bus and train to work.
Judge Birnstein recalled the accused’s previous hearing in which the accused revealed she was in a “bad financial situation,” and the judge gave the accused six months to complete the 100-day community service requirement.
However, the judge reversed her sentencing and decided to revoke probation. The accused now has to surrender to the Los Angeles County jail April 8 to serve time equivalent to her community service order. The 100-day requirement would be transferred to 12 days of jail time, and the accused would have the chance to split up the time into two six-day intervals, or serve all 12 days consecutively.
While the accused tried to re-emphasize the difficulty of her living situation and inability to meet the 100-day requirement, Judge Birnstein admitted she would have given a different sentence if the accused “had shown good faith.”
But, since the accused had not completed one day of service, nor had proof of reaching out to an organization to complete the requirement, the judge stated she would not give “her more time to do community service.”
Additionally, Judge Birnstein commented that, while she understood the accused’s situation, “other people have these problems and get it done,” when referring to probation sentences.
