California Legal and Regulatory News

In somewhat negative negative CAlifornia safwety news from the bay area, some passengers were hurt when riding in San Francisco’s historic and famous cable car system. According to various reports and statements from a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority spokesperson, the injuries happened during or perhaps immedietly after one of San Francisco’s cable cars derailed. This tragic and unfortunate cable car derailment was reported at approximately 12:00 a.m. in the vicinity of Washington Street where the rail curves for the cable car to turn onto Powell Street, according to a spokes person Judson True of the California SF Municipal Transportation Authority. Incidentially if you happen to reside in the greater bay area and you have been involved in an injury and therefore need the services of a wonderful
California Domestic Violence lawyer then take a look at the good offices of Edward N. Ajlouny. His clients from all over clients from all over the San Jose and surrounding region receive both aggressive and effective representation. After all, if someone’s negligent or intentional actions have injured you should be compensated for your loss. He is easily one of the best Lawyers in his area. He serves the bay are in general including the communities of Mountain View, Fremont, Milpitas, Campbell, Morgan Hill, and Cupertino. Now back to the article: before this incident occurred the operator of the cable car exited the car and began pushing the cable car.
According to the authorities, the cable car fishtailed and at least three passengers were injured, one sustained a broken leg and two other passengers sustained minor injuries, sadly enouph. All three of the injured victims were transported to the hospital after the accident. Wow what an awful tragedy to be certain.
All in all it should be noted that the actual speed of the cable car was unknown at the time of this regrettable accident, according to the relevent authorities that are looking into the case. This particular speed will obviously be under a microscope by the state of california along with factors outside of human control such as the gravitational force and the slope from the hill the cable car happened to be on during the time of the incident. As a matter of fact, these are just several of the relevent factors that will be under the microscope during what will certainly be a thorough investigation, considering the serious injuries that were sustained by the passengers in question. The spokesperson True also went on to later comment that at normal speeds a cable car usually does not derail, only fueling speculation of the obvious suspicion that there was some sort of human erroe involved in the tragic accident. The identities of the injured victims have not been released at this point in time and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority has stated that at this particular time all of the cable cars will run on schedule in the foreseeable future.

Just got back from Los Angeles: More weird u-turns in the San Francisco policeman murder case that was reported on earlier: a woman who is suspected in the 1988 murder of a San Francisco police officer has been released from prison in Florida and turned over to ICE custody. The woman has been identified as one Catherine Kuntz. She is age 44 and is also a Scottish citizen, according to the reports.
Kuntz is suspected of the murder of a San Francisco police officer and Concord resident Lester Garnier. All told, officer Garnier was found in a parking lot of the Ross Clothing Store chain, having apparently died from recieving gun shot wounds. By the way, the authorities are seeking the public’s help in obtaining additional information on the case. So far one witness has told them after the gun fire that they saw a woman get out of the car he was driving.
The gun that shot the fatal shots which killed Garnier in this appalling murder case has been identified as an AMT semiautomatic pistol. This information was obtained from a report directly from the Walnut Creek Police Department.
Kuntz, who was living in the area at the time has a long and sordid criminal history of prostitution and drugs, and one of her finger prints was found on Garnier’s car. All in all, the San Francisco Police department has expended six years investigating why the fingerprint in question was found on the car and how she is actually involved in the crime. Could this be an accident in the lethal personal injury?

By the way, it should be noted that at this particular point in time the police department has not announced an actual direct connection per say between Kuntz and Garnier’s murder and with her in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement it will be determined if she is eligible for deportation. It seems to me that this criminal case has some eerie similiarities with this odd crime case as some of the elements of each seem to dovetail. You need a Los Angeles personal injury attorney then this accident lawyer may be for you.
Some of the other charges that Kuntz has faced have been a one year sentence for cocaine possession, which was the most recent of all the charges against her. In addition to this, she was tried in Virginia for attempted murder and arranging the murder of Gregory Kuntz, her husband. A real black widow, this one. However, in a rather bizarre twist on an otherwise strange case, Kuntz was acquitted after her husband testified in her defense. Why he did so was a mystery, but he may not have been aware of all the facts. maybe she promised to cancel the contract that was out on his life if he did.

At a point in time when brushfires, wildfires and occasionally even arson are wiping out large swathes of land across the state I thought it would be a relevent time to post this article, written by expert Richard Patton. Many peoplehave been effected in recent months all over the west coast. This article has been slightly edited for length and format. I realize that to many individuals, anything that has not been done is something that can’t or should not be done. But it is quite common to protect a building from an internal fire for a fire rating duration of up to four hours. As a matter of fact, the fire protection community was so enamored with the idea of a fire resistant structure that they termed it a “fireproof” building. Then, for more than 70 years or so the fire officials who controlled the fire codes wrote codes to prevent fire sprinkler systems from being installed in nearly all the “Life-At-Risk” type buildings, including high rises, hospitals and even individuals houses. The idea was that if the building was “fireproof” then there was no point in installing sprinklers in them. The fact that the contents of the buildings would burn and that when the contents burned, so did the people within, apparently got lost in the shuffle, so to speak.

To build a house which is resistant to an external fire there are some ready solutions. Of course the roof must be fire resistant but this is no major problem because such roofs are already on the market.

All in all, in order to protect a house from being ignited by an external fire the following is required: The exterior walls have to be constructed from a fire resistant material. Wood trim should be non existent or at least should be painted with fire retardant paint. Shutters for the windows should be available to block radiant heat from entering and igniting the interior combustibles. If a wood deck or porch or other exposing combustible construction exists, install some sidewall sprinklers or special fog nozzles arranged to wet down the combustibles and shield the house. What also is required is to determine the probable maximum temperatures created by the exposing fires and the probable maximum time duration of the exposures. Then it will be much easier to define the fire resistance required to keep the fire out of the house. Broadly speaking, all of this should be quite simple to accomplish for a technologically advanced nation such as the United States.

 In general, those who value their houses and safety should have had the knowledge to gain this safety years ago. Why has the fire protection community ignored the problem and failed to define the solutions for these many decades during which homes have burned when the forests and brush have burned? I know the answers to those questions, but I also know that the answers will not be well received.

 It should be noted that fire is a hundred billion dollars per year business. Yes in the tens billions, you heard correctly. The National Fire Protection Association and Underwriters’ Laboratories are the gate keepers to the controlled market place. The International Association Of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the fire department plan reviewers and inspectors are the enforcers. It is virtually impossible to market a fire related product unless one pays hugely for the laboratory testing and is able to write the product into the appropriate fire code. What I would like to see is the technology to protect the home defined, but not controlled, mandated and stagnated by government. That way, within a free market where advances can be made as technology improves, the fire science could be perfected. Under the present code system, once the code is written the ability to make advances disappears because those who control the standard and thus control the market, will prevent change. In addition, those who control the codes will write them so as to bar competitors from the market. 

For instance, the fire sprikler industry produced codes which essentially required large iron pipe and huge water supplies, sometimes creating costs for protection many times greater than would be needed for properly engineered systems. One reason that this happened is that by maximizing the price they believed they maximized their profits. But, more important, the mandating of pipe sizes in steel pipe up to eight inch represented a barrier to the plumbing industry, which primarily of smaller businesses. The plumbing industry was not ready to handle the large steel pipe which was actually required here. The steel pipe had a serious corrosion issue, unfortunately and was much more susceptible to earthquake damage.

RICHARD M. PATTON, FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEER 

AUTHOR, THE AMERICAN HOME IS A FIRE TRAP

President of

THE CRUSADE AGAINST FIRE DEATHS, INC.

POST OFFICE BOX 196 CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA 95611 ? PHONE 916 721 7700 FAX 916 721 7738

WEB SITES: WWW.FIRECRUSADE.COM

Are you in the San Francisco bay are and feel as if you have been wrongfully accused of an offense? Seeking out a Defense Attorney in the San Francisco bay area is your initial step in getting your charges reduced. If you have been arrested for a crime, especially a felony offense, you know first hand all the stress that it generates.

  Unlike a lesser misdemeanor charge, a felony conviction may carry the consequence of imprisonment for over a year in jail as well as monetary penalties, or fines. Felony charges include felony drunk driving, murder, robbery, kidnapping and treason. It is certainly in your best interest to find a qualified Attorney. Do not try to wait untill your court appearance to get expert advice and counsel Defense or personal Injury Attorneys in San Francisco can help get your charges reduced and in many cases you can wind up only being charged with a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor charges are only punishable for up to a single year in prison. By the way if you happen to live in the San Francisco bay area and are in need of a great San Francisco Personal Injury Attorney
in the bay area then may I recommend the Law offices of Scott Righthand. he is certainly one of the very best not only in San Franciscio but also in Oakland and the greater Bay area generally, in my personal opinion.

  It is suggested that you only speak to your Defense or personal Injury Attorney about the charges that are being brought against you. Speaking to family members or friends about the matter may cause what you have said to be held against you. What ever you tell them may be used in their testimony in court. Best advise is to not talk to anyone but your own attorney about it.

 Even if you are guilty and want to testify to that, a Defense Attorney should nonetheless represent you. Retaining an attorney could mean the difference in spending over a year in jail the just doing community service. There are numerous levels of punishment for the various crimes and your attorney will be aware of them all. He or she will be able to advise you as to what your options are.

 You have the right to not testify against yourself in court and by having your attorney represent in

If you have been charged with a felony you can turn to a reputable San Francisco based attorney.