| For Immediate Release Case # 07NF0271 March 10, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
CARE WORKER SENTENCED FOR BEATING DEPENDANT ADULT AT ANAHEIM CARE FACILITY
AND RECORDING ATTACK ON CELL PHONE CAMERA
WESTMINSTER – A dependent adult care worker was sentenced today to 90 days in jail for beating a disabled man in an Anaheim facility and recording the attacks on a cell phone camera. Patrick John Dizon Solis, 23, pleaded guilty to the court to a misdemeanor count of battery and a felony count of false imprisonment of a dependent adult. Over the People’s objection, the Honorable David Hoffer sentenced the defendant to 90 days in jail. The pre-plea report prepared by the Department of Probation recommended a sentence of six to nine months in jail. Based on the nature of the crime, resulting in a felony conviction, and the defendant’s immigration status, which creates a flight risk, the People asked the court to take Solis into custody immediately. The judge denied the People’s request and released the defendant on bail with an order to return March 21, 2008.
Co-defendant Michael Douglas Rama, 25, pleaded guilty on February 22, 2008 to one misdemeanor count of permitting a dependent adult to be injured. Rama was to testify truthfully about defendant Solis’ conduct. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 18, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. in Department W-18, West Justice Center, Westminster.
On April 12, 2006, Solis and Rama cornered a mentally disabled adult, Chris P., in a restroom at Jossen Vocational Academy in Anaheim. They slapped Chris P. repeatedly and recorded the attack on a cell phone video camera. The victim can be seen on the video shrieking and cowering in fear. On March 22, 2006, Rama participated in the abuse of another dependent adult, Alan C., at Jossen. He again recorded the incident on a cell phone video camera. Laughter is audible in the background from an unidentified person.
On October 19, 2007, Hoffer dismissed the hate crimes charges and enhancements that had been filed by the People against Solis and Rama. The charges had been bound over at preliminary hearing by another judge. California hate crime law prohibits the use of force or threat of force by an individual in order to intimidate, interfere with, oppress, or threaten any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the U.S. Constitution or laws of California or the United States because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability. The allegation if proved increases the sentence to four years in state prison if the act is “substantially motivated” by the victim’s disability.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Steiner of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.
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