Reply #12: LA's City Attorney Carmen Trutanitch [View All]

[JDPriestly]

The Los Angeles County Superior Court Judicial Council sets the bail schedule for misdemeanor violations and failing to disperse (state penal code 409) carries a minimum bail of $5,000, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office. A charge of resisting arrest carries a minimum bail of $10,000, he said.

. . . .

At arraignment it is possible to have the bail amount raised or lowered, and to request no bail and release on a person’s own recognizance, depending on the specific charges and background of the defendant, said Mateljan.

According to the City Attorney’s Office, the LAPD can exercise discretion, with some limitations, when arresting someone for a misdemeanor violation. Depending on the situation, officers have the choice to detain and release the arrestee in the field with a citation; detain, book (for example, fingerprint and photograph) and release the arrestee with a notice to appear; or detain, book and recommend bail for the arrestee.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/12/01/30153/hundreds-remain-jailed-after-occupy-la-raid/

Carmen A. Trutanich was elected City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles on May 19, 2009, and assumed office July 1, 2009. Carmen, who was born and raised in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro, attended local schools, earning both his undergraduate degree and MBA at the University of Southern California. After working alongside his father at San Pedro’s StarKist tuna cannery and teaching at local community colleges, Carmen decided to pursue a law degree.

Upon completing his law degree at the South Bay University College of Law in 1978, Carmen joined the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, where he cut his teeth in the "Hard Core Gang Division" before playing an instrumental role in the formation and success of the Environmental Crimes/OSHA Division. Determined to complete an ongoing gang prosecution, Carmen became the first and only Deputy D.A. to secure a death verdict while assigned to the Environmental Crimes/ OSHA Unit. Carmen was also the first prosecutor in California to obtain a felony conviction for illegal disposal of hazardous waste and the first to draft a set of court-approved jury instructions for environmental crimes.

Carmen left the District Attorney’s Office in 1988 to work in private practice. In 1998 he formed Trutanich-Michel, LLP, where he continued to focus on environmental litigation. Carmen has been lead trial counsel in more than 300 trials, including more than 100 jury trials.

http://atty.lacity.org/OUR_OFFICE/Meet_City_Attorney/index.htm