3/10/2010
KERRY STEIGERWALT OF PACIFIC LAW CENTER KUSI-TV APPEARANCE
SHEDS LIGHT ON CHELSEA KING MURDER CASE
SAN DIEGO: Prominent local defense attorney Kerry Steigerwalt provided legal perspective today in the high-profile case of a Riverside County man accused of murdering a Poway teen-age girl who disappeared while jogging in Rancho Bernardo.
Steigerwalt was interviewed by KUSI 9News Anchor/Reporter Ross Becker outside the San Diego County Hall of Justice, near where John Gardner III, a convicted sex offender from Lake Elsinore was arraigned on charges that could lead to the death penalty.
The interview was broadcast live on KUSI’s Good Morning San Diego show.
Gardner is accused of raping and murdering Chelsea King, a straight-A student and cross-country runner from Poway High School who never came home after going for a run Feb. 25 near Lake Hodges in Rancho Bernardo Community Park.
Steigerwalt explained the legal details of an arraignment, at which prosecutors file documents that contain their allegations of what crimes were committed.
Defendants usually either have appearances on their behalf by hired defense attorneys or have a public defender appointed to represent them.
Gardner was arrested three days later at a Lake Hodges restaurant. King’s body was found March 2 in a shallow grave in brushy area a few yards off the lake shoreline.
Steigerwalt told the television audience the fact that Gardner was arrested before the girl’s body was found indicates that police had a theory supported by evidence for arresting him that Sunday.
Steigerwalt, who has appeared as a commentator on high-profile cases on many local and national television shows, also was a nightly television commentator on the David Westerfield case in 2002.
In a trial that drew nationwide attention, Steigerwalt provided in-depth legal context for viewers who watched a case unfold in which Westerfield eventually was convicted and sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering his seven-year-old neighbor, Danielle Van Dam.
Steigerwalt is the managing partner of Kerry Steigerwalt’s Pacific Law Center and has built his career through a string of high-profile cases, including death penalty cases, over two decades. He has become one of the region’s most sought-after defense lawyers and is a common contributor to local and national media, offering insight into legal cases through his decades of experience in the courtroom. He has appeared on such television shows as 48 Hours, Court TV, The O’Reilly Factor and Fox News as well as numerous other media outlets.
KERRY STEIGERWALT OF PACIFIC LAW CENTER ADDRESSES DRUG
PANEL ON DANGERS OF OXYCONTIN
SAN DIEGO – Prominent local attorney Kerry Steigerwalt detailed the dangers of OxyContin abuse today at a meeting of health, law enforcement and treatment professionals addressing the rapidly increasing problem of illegal use of the highly addictive opiate.
The session was held at a La Jolla treatment facility of the Bay Recovery Center, one of the pioneers in treatment of chemical dependency, chronic pain and sleep disorders. Attending were members of a local law enforcement task force dealing with the problem at the street level, physicians, recovery specialists, former addicts and attorneys.
Steigerwalt, managing partner at Kerry Steigerwalt’s Pacific Law Center, told the gathering that there has been a shocking increase in the number of cases of OxyContin abuse, mainly among teen-agers and young adults from well-to-do communities in San Diego County.
“In all of 2007 the District Attorney’s Office filed 34 Oxy-related cases,” Steigerwalt told the group. “Between November of 2008 and the end of last September there were 175 cases filed. Between 2008 and 2009 there were 53 Oxy-related deaths.”
Steigerwalt said OxyContin abuse is incredibly dangerous because it is a very addictive drug that causes severe withdrawal problems and that abusers and addicts will do anything they can to avoid being jailed and deprived of the drug.
Steigerwalt said he has represented the whole spectrum of OxyContin abuse from doctors illegally dispensing the drug to high-achieving teens whose lives have been torn apart by addiction to the euphoric high the opiate provides.
“The judges here in San Diego are getting educated about this drug and its dangers and getting stricter and stricter in dealing out punishment,” said Steigerwalt. He said there is a far higher likelihood of an OxyContin abuser or dealer facing prison time than for similar crimes involving the more common illegal drugs marijuana and methamphetamine.
“That’s because this is an incredibly dangerous drug that frequently leads abusers into heroin,” he said.
Officials at the session said OxyContin is expensive but easy to obtain in upper-scale neighborhoods in the North County, Poway and La Jolla. It is smuggled across the border from Mexico, bought with illegal prescriptions here in San Diego and frequently stolen from unsuspecting parents who have valid prescriptions for the drug, which is commonly prescribed for pain.
Steigerwalt said he has been effective in immediately getting his clients into a treatment program and, in the common cases of teen-age abuse, bringing parents into the situation.
“These kids are scared to death about going to jail because of the withdrawal trauma and in many cases they have been hiding this from their parents,” he said.
Pacific Law Center on new DUI laws in California.
SAN DIEGO, CA – Proposals by two San Francisco Bay Area legislators that would impose even harsher penalties against repeat drunken-driving offenders would be overkill, prominent local attorney Kerry Steigerwalt of Pacific Law Center told a television audience today.
In an interview broadcast on KNSD, Channel 7/39, Steigerwalt of Pacific Law Center said the criminal justice system and the state Department of Motor Vehicles already have measures in place to adequately punish repeat offenders.
Steigerwalt was interviewed by KNSD reporter Gene Cubbison in the fallout of a highly publicized case in Northern California in which a Burlingame man still had a valid driver’s license when he was charged with his ninth DUI offense recently.
State Senators Leland Yee and Jerry Hill told the San Mateo County Times that more laws are needed to automatically strip multiple offenders of their licenses.
Steigerwalt told Cubbison that California already has some of the strictest laws in the country against repeat offenders and that judges and the DMV already can strip a repeat offender of their license for from three years to life.
“There are adequate parameters in place within which to address the problem without getting into a 3-Strikes scenario,” said Steigerwalt.
Steigerwalt, who has over three decades of criminal defense experience in San Diego County ranging from drunken driving to death penalty cases, said any new laws would be, at best, duplicative.
“There would be constitutional challenges that would probably prevail,” he said. “Why should we spend this time imposing another law over one that already exists?”
If facing any type of legal charge the lawyers and attorneys at Pacific Law Center can help.
------------ end of Pacific Law Center Press release -----------------------------------------------
The Lawyers and Attorneys at Pacific Law Center can help with any type of legal problem you may be facing.
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Regardless of the legal situation, we have the experience to help you and your family by providing access to justice.
While our team of lawyers takes pride in offering top legal services for the consumers of San Diego and throughout California, Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center can help you regardless of where you live throughout the United States.
Providing a full range of lawyers and attorneys, Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center can assist an any legal situation.
Contact Pacific Law Center toll free at 1-800-508-0000
Pacific Law Center Information
Pacific Law Center has for many years been in the San Diego public’s mindset due to the large amount of visible advertising.
Advertising aggressively on the local TV news, phone book covers, mass transit buses, and on the Internet all plays a role in branding of a company.
Pacific Law Center a while back went through a merger with long time well known local attorney Kerry Steigerwalt, who has 100& ownership in the firm.
When researching Pacific Law Center on the internet, you may find many so called “hate sites” that purport all kinds of misleading and false statements.
Many of these false or misleading website pages were made by disgruntled former employees who were ousted after the merger took place, or people who for whatever reason felt like their case weren’t handled properly.
There are also some firms in San Diego who can’t afford the cost of advertising that Pacific Law Center enjoys. So to play off the Internet traffic – they set up web sites to target the key word search phrase “Pacific Law Center”, in hopes of gaining a few customers. In researching this topic it was found that some had even attached their law firm logo to a map showing Pacific Law Center.
Many law firms are upset that they don’t have the resources in place to offer what Pacific Law Firm offers – that is a free consultation. Many people in these troubled economic times seeking legal representation can’t afford some of the upfront fees charged by some firms.
When looking for any product or service on the Internet one must be careful of misleading or scam sites that seek to pull you away from what you really are searching for. This includes law firms as well. Not everything you read on the Internet is going to be true.
Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center, the creation of two of San Diego's most well recognized Law Firms.
The creation of KSPLC establishes a quality bank of attorneys experienced in representation for people criminally accused and those suffering from injuries caused by accidents, DUI, personal injury, medical malpractice, defective drugs and defective products.
Pacific Law Center also has a division dedicated to solving the financial woes of those caught up in bankruptcy and debt relief.
Regardless of the legal situation, we have the experience to help you and your family by providing access to justice. While our team of lawyers takes pride in offering top legal services for the consumers of San Diego and throughout California, Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center can help you regardless of where you live throughout the United States.
Longtime San Diego trial lawyer Kerry Steigerwalt is the managing partner of Pacific Law Center. Steigerwalt is a familiar face to San Diegans through his successful criminal defense practice involving a string of high-profile cases.
Steigerwalt has over two decades of experience in representing people in criminal defense and personal injury matters - becoming one of the most well-known and sought after trial attorneys both in Southern California and Nationally.
He's also a familiar figure on local and national radio and television, providing much sought-after expertise on the law and on major cases in the media, including TV appearances include "48 Hours," "Court TV," "The O'Reilly Factor," and "Fox News" as well as Newspapers and magazine articles including the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and People.
About Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center - All Accident and Serious Personal Injury Cases - DUI, Criminal Defense, and Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Pacific Law Center, based in La Jolla, San Diego, California, has extensive experience in personal injury, bankruptcy, criminal law, and DUI litigation. We have created a new division to help with home loan modification and debt relief in these tough economic times.
Our attorneys are committed to providing the finest legal services to our clients throughout Southern California and Nationwide. Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center's main location is at 3636 Nobel Drive Suite 475, and we have offices throughout Southern California. Residents of San Diego County can depend on our personal injury attorneys to battle for their legal rights.
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