Estranged Wife of Robert F. Kennedy Commits Suicide

Robert F. Kennedy’s estranged wife, Mary Kennedy, was found dead on Wednesday in its Bedford home.

The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the cause of death of the 52-year-old architect is asphyxiation by hanging. In other words, it was a self inflicted death or suicide.

Robert F. Kennedy and the late Mary R. Kennedy were married in 1994; the later filed a divorce in 2010. Robert Kennedy is the son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy.

Rumors say that the separation brought a devastating effect to Mrs. Kennedy. In fact, three days after their separation, Mrs. Kennedy was reported arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) when authorities found a blood alcohol content level of 0.11 percent in Mrs. Kennedy’s test. She was then required to pay a $500 monetary relief and police later confiscated her driver’s license for 90 days due to the said incident.

Months after the incident, Mrs. Kennedy was again arrested for driving under the influence of drugs. Fortunately, a jury from Pleasant Valley Town later dismissed the charges set against her, believing that Mrs. Kennedy was not really aware that her prescription drugs would impair her driving ability.

In New York, the impact of driving under the influence is severely catastrophic and in fact, one-third of drivers and pedestrians involved in all vehicle accident fatalities in New York are impaired or intoxicated.

The lawful blood alcohol content limit in each country varies. Usually, in most states in U.S. like in New York, the blood alcohol content limit is being measured trough a breath device, urinalysis or a blood test. Any percentage that goes beyond the 0.08% maximum level of blood alcohol content is considered enough to considerably impair a driver.  

Although, Mrs. Kennedy was once a public figure, it would not definitely become a factor to exclude her from traffic violation charges. She would still be held liable in an instance that her drunk driving caused injuries or damages to others.

In other states such as California, lawyers like a Los Angeles auto accident attorney also reminded the same statutes to most people under their jurisdiction to avoid such incidents of drunk driving.

California Unemployment Drop in March, the Lowest Cut Down in 2 Years

The State of California had more than 2 million jobless people in March.

However, the number of unemployment claims received by the State has dropped by 17% compared to March of last year, said the Employment Development Department.

Last March, the State handled some 509,235 unemployment claims compared to the 616,884 claims filed in March of last year. The March figures also show a major cut down since two years ago when the month of March claims reach a staggering 718,396 claims.

The number of people filing for unemployment claim is meaningfully lower than the total jobless since thousands of self employed and others are not qualified for the benefits.

Factors eyed as a major reason behind the cutoff in claims is the approximately 242,000 fewer Californians jobless in March. This is compared to the figures recorded during the peak of economic recession way back in September, 2010 when some 2,272,900 residents were officially declared unemployed. 

Some experts believed that the following factors contributed a lot to the drop in claims in the Golden State:

•    March, 2012 has approximately 242,000 fewer jobless people than during the peak of economic recession way back in September 2012 when 2,272,900 unemployed residents were officially declared.

•    More unemployed Californians have drained their 99 weeks of jobless benefit. EDD figures as of May 1 reveal that some 673,000 people had turned into unemployment rolls after maxing out their unemployment benefits. It is not even clear how many of them recently found a job.

This current month, the number of claims is expected to drop significantly. Approximately 90,000 residents will be out of unemployment lists after May 12, since the State is no longer accepting applications for the so-called Fed-Ed federal emergency aid.

It means that the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits will be reduced to a maximum of 79 weeks of aid. Furthermore, said benefits will again be reduced to 73 weeks in September in line with the unemployment extension phase-out approved by the Congress. By December, all federal unemployment benefits will eventually end, leaving the upcoming unemployed with a maximum of just 26 weeks of State aid.

Due to the unemployment drop, the State’s payouts for unemployment benefits likewise dropped. In an average, California pays $107 million in a day in March 2010, while in March this year, the State only pays $59 million daily, a decrease almost double from the previous amount.

However, the drop in payouts had done nothing to help California’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to get out from being dipped in hot water. The State had been in fact, borrowing from the federal government to pay the unemployment benefits because the unemployment tax revenues do not meet the required amount for the payouts since January of 2009. As of March this year, California owed a total of $10.8 billion from the U.S. government for the money the State has borrowed to pay unemployment benefits.

Nevertheless, it is still a great achievement for the State of California since it is apparently doing well in attempting to reduce the federal government’s burden when it comes to unemployment claims. A Los Angeles employment lawyer is quite impressed with the State’s giant step in moving forward. 

“Grey’s Anatomy” Star – Patrick Dempsey Rescues a Teen from a Vehicle Accident

Patrick Dempsey, who portrays the role of a neurosurgeon saving lives of patients on the medical drama, “Grey’s Anatomy” turned into a real-life hero after saving a teen driver from a vehicle accident.

Dempsey reportedly saved the life of a teen driver who got involved in a vehicle accident that occurred last April 24 in front of Dempsey’s home in Malibu, California. 

According to reports, Dempsey used a crow bar and a fire extinguisher to free the 17-year-old driver, Weston Masset, from his rolled over vehicle. Masset reportedly lost control of his Mustang, which caused it to roll over trice and to land on Dempsey’s front yard.

Masset was barely conscious while he was being rescued by Dempsey. Reports said that Masset, however, still managed to ask Dempsey, upon seeing the actor standing in front of him, if Dempsey was famous. After rescuing Masset, Dempsey called the paramedics and the teen’s mother to inform the latter about the accident.

Dempsey and his wife, together with a few neighbors, stayed beside the teen until paramedics arrived and airlifted Masset to the nearest hospital to receive treatment for his personal injuries. Masset sustained an eye and brain injury but is expected to recover soon, reports said.

Dempsey’s spokesperson refused to give any comment regarding the incident. Meanwhile, Masset and his mother were very grateful with Dempsey for saving the teen’s life.

Until present, no further detail aside from the above-said information regarding the incident was released.

The State of California has been a witness to many different vehicle accidents each year. Good thing the Golden State has a lot of highly skilled personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles. Such lawyers have in fact established a remarkable record of representing victims of car accidents, whether of legal age or minors, over the past years.

CHP Urges Teen Drivers to Attend Safe Teen Driving Program

The California Highway Patrol is encouraging teen drivers to attend the agency’s week-long program which aims to educate teens about safe driving.

The CHP’s Start Smart Class is a program providing knowledge about safe driving not only to teenage drivers at ages fifteen to nineteen alone, but also to teens’ parents and guardians.

The class is set to kick-off 6 p.m. Monday and will only take 2-hours a day. Venue is at River Springs Charter School, 43040 Margarita Road in Temecula.

Techniques in avoiding vehicle accident, factors affecting traffic collisions, teen drivers and parent liabilities, and proper use of safety gears like seatbelts and airbags will be discussed by CHP officers during the class. Furthermore, several officers who have investigated fatal vehicle accidents involving teen drivers, and family members who have lost their love ones from road mishaps, will be providing a few statements.

One of CHP’s spokespersons, Nathan Baer, said that the program will help newly- and future licensed teen drivers to become more aware with the responsibilities that go with the privileges of having a driver’s license.

Reservations are not required to attend the class. Therefore, those who want to join the class wouldn’t get intimated with the reservation and registration process.

Teen drivers only represent 4% of California’s licensed drivers. However, during vehicle accidents, 66% of fatal collisions involve teen drivers and most often, they are found to be at fault. In fact, the major cause of death among Americans ages fifteen to twenty is vehicle accidents. 

Probably the most painful part of one’s life is to lose or to see their loved ones hurt due to such occurrences, which can actually be avoided with proper knowledge and precautions. Therefore, a Los Angeles personal injury attorney appreciates CHP’s efforts in pursuing to educate teen drivers in avoiding vehicle accidents since younger generations are more vulnerable to car accidents than adults.

Woman Involved in a Single Vehicle Accident Refuses Help

A woman who rammed her car into a building in Boyle Heights tried to refuse help coming from the people who witnessed the single accident on Tuesday morning.

According to reports, the woman was driving with a rate of speed of 60 to 80 mph when the car she was driving rammed into a building east of downtown Los Angeles.

Witnesses said that the woman sped fast while driving in Boyle Avenue, swerved onto the other side of the street, and went over the curb, causing the car to ram into the Enki Youth and Family Services Building.  

One of the witnesses stated that he and his friend were the first ones who responded and helped the woman, but the woman seemed unwelcome to the help they extended to her. The woman allegedly even yelled at her rescuers and tried to piss them off.

Respondents further stated that they had to dig the woman to free her from the wrecked car and the woman even tried to run. Therefore, respondents had to detain the woman until the police arrived.

Although witnesses speculated that the woman had a medical condition that may caused her impairment, authorities are still determining the main cause of the accident. Alcohol was also suspected as a factor to the incident. Nevertheless, the woman was transported to the nearest hospital as a precautionary measure even though there was no apparent sign of personal injury on her.

Meanwhile, the building is being restricted from unauthorized persons until the premise was declared safe.

Allegedly the woman was not arrested probably due to the absence of a complaint since nobody sustained injury from the single car accident. But, she would definitely be required to pay for damages incurred by the incident. If that will be the case, she may no longer need to obtain the services of a vehicle accident lawyer to assist her in bringing out a defense for her actions.

California Likely to Become First State to Make Unemployed a Protected Class

Once a bill has been approved, the Golden State is likely to be the first state in the country to make unemployed a protected class.   

The move is an attempt to reduce the growing problem of the state regarding employment discrimination.

A recent bill filed in Sacramento was recently given the go signal by the Assembly Judiciary Committee (AJC). The proposed legislation aims to turn an applicants’ employment status into a protected class when it comes to discrimination during job interviews.
On Tuesday, a 7-3 decision by the AJC in favor of Assembly bill 1450 officially cleared and gave it the green signal for proper action by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. However, a hearing date is still pending.

The bill, which was drafted by Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-San Rafael, would illegalize listing of current employment as a requirement in job advertisements. The bill likewise will treat employers’ hiring decisions based on the applicant’s status of employment as unlawful.

Allen also revealed that ads from several websites, such as Craiglist and Careerbuilder.com, requiring current employment in order to qualify for the job had led him to propose the bill.

Meanwhile, as expected, several group of employers voiced their objections to the bill. They claim that asking the applicant’s job history is a very significant part of a job interview process. Therefore, once the bill has been approved into law, employers would be vulnerable to employment discrimination penalties.

Oregon and New Jersey in fact passed the same legislation prohibiting employment status in job advertisements. However, California would become the first state to make the unemployed a protected class when it finally signs the bill into law.

Once this legislation passed, it would definitely affect how job interviews are conducted. On the other hand, the bill would provide the unemployed with greater employment opportunities.

Employment discrimination may actually arise from the time an employee steps on the company’s premises for a job interview. Exposing employers to discrimination penalties would eventually mean draining resources for them in the future. Therefore, it is no longer surprising why they aren’t in favor of the bill. 

Condominium Complex Home Owners Association Sued for Resident’s Wrongful Death

A condominium complex’s Home Owners Association is being sued for wrongful death by the daughter of a tenant who was killed by her husband in their own unit.

Last April 10, Marlene Martinez filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Glenoaks Townhomes home owners association before the office of Los Angeles Superior Court following the death of her 33–year-old mother, Olga Martinez.

The older Martinez was stabbed to death by her husband, Napoleon E. Castro, 36. Based on the investigation, she was found prostrating in her own blood at the garage entrance of the complex in 11150 Glenoaks Blvd.

The Aberdeen Management Co. and the Centurion Security Inc. that provided security service to the condominium complex were also named in the lawsuit. Martinez’s daughter is seeking for unspecified compensatory damages in her lawsuit.

In her lawsuit, Martinez’s daughter claimed that the homeowners association, as well as the other accused, knew right from the very start that Martinez had a restraining order against her husband and that the latter posed threat to her mother. 

Marlene Martinez further stated in her lawsuit that the accused were supposedly to provide security in the gated housing community and restrict unauthorized visitors. Apparently, the accused breached their duty by allowing Castro to enter the building.

The murder suspect is a native of El Salvador and has worked in the construction industry. The FBI described Castro as a man with multiple tattoos and was known to use several aliases such as Luis Sanchez, Juan Flores, Napoleon Edvardo Castro, and Napoleon Edwardo Castro with varying birthdates as June 10, 1975, June 7, 1975, and Oct. 10, 1975.

Castro is no longer a stranger to the FBI since he was a fugitive and was considered armed and dangerous. Castro was known to have ties in Worcester, Massachusetts, and El Salvador.

Castro is also known as “Napo”, meaning “trouble”. He is charged with murder and torture in Los Angeles Superior Court. The special circumstance allegations of murder involving the infliction of torture and lying in wait were involved in the murder charges, and such could make him eligible for the death penalty once he became convicted.

To avoid further prosecution, Castro was charged with unlawful flight in the US District Court in downtown Los Angeles and a federal warrant of arrest was also issued in.

In the said wrongful death claim, the complainant obviously has all the right to file for a claim since the accused clearly failed to provide a level of security within the said premises. However, the parties accused will definitely try to go to great extents to defend themselves. As a result, Martinez’s daughter must need to be sure that she will get the very best wrongful death attorneys in Los Angeles possible for her claim.