People v. Edelen
| Decision Date | 21 April 2023 |
| Docket Number | D080277 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. EDWARD ALFONSO EDELEN, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, No SCD289841 Kimberlee A. Lagotta, Judge. Affirmed.
Michelle J. Cameron-Hunsaker for Defendant and Appellant.
Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Robin Urbanski and Juliet W. Park, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Edward Alfonso Edelen pled guilty to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury (Pen. Code,[1] § 245, subd (a)(4)), and the trial court placed him on formal probation. Among other terms and conditions, the court required Edelen to pay restitution to the victim, who happened to be a lawyer. The amounts awarded in restitution included substantial sums for the victim's lost wages and for legal fees the victim incurred in civil proceedings filed against Edelen. Edelen argues the court abused its discretion by awarding restitution of these claimed losses. We affirm.
On March 26, 2021, 26-year-old Edelen was arrested for assaulting C.B., his landlord. Edelen recently had moved into an apartment complex owned by C.B. and C.B.'s wife, and he had been the subject of several complaints of loud noise and being aggressive toward neighbors.
C.B. and his wife drove to the complex and placed a three-day notice on Edelen's door. The notice stated Edelen needed to "address the complaints and fix the problems" or they would file for eviction. Edelen followed C.B. and his wife as they walked back to their car and yelled at them. C.B. and his wife got in their car, and as they pulled away, Edelen tore up the notice.
C.B. told his wife to stop the car so he could take a picture of the notice for evidence. When C.B. got out of the car, Edelen ran at him and pushed him.
C.B.'s wife heard the sound of a head hitting the asphalt. She looked up and saw C.B. lying on the asphalt unconscious with Edelen standing over him. Edelen punched the unconscious C.B. four times in the face. Edelen ran off, and she ran to C.B., who was bleeding from his nose and mouth and had blood on his ear.
Police officers responding to the scene found C.B.'s wife helping C.B. sit up in the middle of the street. C.B. had bruises on his face, a swollen, bloody lip, and a cut on his scalp. There was a line of blood from his left ear to his mouth. He had difficulty speaking and did not know what had happened to him.
As the officers were leaving, J.W. and B.L. reported that Edelen had burst into their apartment, jumped on top of J.W., and started punching him. J.W. said he had been struck on his legs, torso, and head, but was not injured. B.L. reported that Edelen had tried to punch him but did not connect. Edelen's girlfriend came in, pulled him off, and took him out of the men's apartment.
Edelen initially fled the scene, but he returned while the police were still investigating. Edelen stated that he had been in an ongoing dispute with his neighbors, J.W. and B.L., about noise levels. When C.B., whom Edelen had never met, showed up at his apartment and served him with paperwork, Edelen was confused and thought it stemmed from J.W. and B.L. complaining about him. Edelen followed C.B. and his wife to their car to tell them to leave him alone. When they started to leave, he got scared and tore up the notice because he thought they were going to hit him with their car.
When C.B. exited the car to take pictures of the notice, C.B. approached Edelen's girlfriend and tried to hand paperwork to her. At this, Edelen" 'snapped'" and punched C.B. twice in the face. C.B. fell and was not moving. As Edelen was returning to his apartment, he stopped at J.W. and B.L.'s apartment and began punching them because he was still upset. Edelen then realized what he was doing and left.
Edelen posted bail the morning after his arrest and was given an arraignment date in August 2021. A felony complaint was filed charging Edelen with assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(4); count 1), with an infliction of great bodily injury enhancement allegation (§ 12022.7, subd. (a)); battery resulting in infliction of serious bodily injury (§ 243, subd. (d); count 2); and two counts of simple battery (§ 242; counts 3 and 4). At the scheduled arraignment, Edelen entered a not guilty plea, and a criminal protective order was issued naming C.B. as the only protected person.
In September 2021, pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, Edelen pled guilty to the assault charge in count 1. In exchange, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the enhancement allegation and remaining counts. The plea agreement included a Harvey[3] waiver and Edelen stipulated that he would pay full restitution. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Edelen on two years of formal probation.
A formal restitution hearing was held in February 2022. Prior to the hearing, the prosecution filed a brief seeking victim restitution totaling $184,014 on behalf of C.B., in addition to a total of $7,039.79 on behalf of the California Restitution Board. The prosecution stated that C.B. was an attorney at a "premier legal firm." His hourly rate as a partner was $750, and he billed an average of 100 hours per month. He was requesting lost wages for April and May 2021 to make up for billable hours he lost due to the lingering effects of his injuries. He also sought lost wages of $6,750 for nine hours spent attending court in the criminal case as well as a civil proceeding in which he sought a restraining order against Edelen, and $15,000 for 20 hours of physical therapy appointments he attended between July and October 2021.
The prosecution attached several exhibits to its brief, including a sample client engagement letter from C.B.'s law firm showing C.B.'s hourly rate as of December 2020 was $750, and a report of C.B.'s billable hours for January through August 2021. C.B.'s billable hours showed that from January through August 2021, his monthly billable hours had ranged from a low of 103.05 to a high of 136.15 in the months other than April and May. In April, he recorded 2.5 billable hours, and in May, he recorded 22.55 billable hours. The prosecution calculated that C.B. was entitled to receive restitution in the amount of $67,076 for his wage losses in April 2021 and $56,700 for his wage losses in May 2021.[4] Thus, C.B.'s total wage loss claim, including these amounts as well as amounts he sought for time spent attending court hearings and physical therapy appointments, was $145,526. In addition to this sum, C.B. also requested reimbursement of a $10,000 retainer paid to an outside law firm[5] to obtain a civil restraining order against Edelen, $8,500 in "[e]viction legal fees," and other amounts not relevant to this appeal.
The defense filed an opposition brief in which it argued C.B.'s lost billable hours were not recoverable as restitution because they were not lost wages, they were "what the attorney bills to the client[.]" The defense asserted that it believed C.B. received a salary, and suggested his salary payments were unaffected in April and May 2021 such that C.B. did not actually lose income as a result of the incident. The defense also argued there was no need to initiate eviction proceedings against Edelen because Edelen's attorney had sent C.B.'s outside counsel a letter on April 9, 2021 stating Edelen was willing to voluntarily leave his apartment by April 30.
At the restitution hearing, C.B. testified he is a lawyer as well as the principal and sole shareholder of a small law firm. As the result of the assault, he suffered a concussion so severe it caused him to suffer vertigo that kept him bedridden for 30 days. He could not stand, walk, see clearly, or read. He received neurological treatment that allowed him to slowly regain the ability to sit up and interact. He was finally able to walk without fear of falling 60 days after the assault.
Due to his injuries, C.B. was unable to perform his usual work as a litigator for much of April and May 2021. C.B. verified that his billable hours reports reflected his inability to work and bill his usual number of hours during this period. His hourly rate at that time was $750; his clients had been paying this rate since December 2020. C.B. testified he could not recall the last time he billed and collected less than 100 hours in a month.
C.B. testified his actual income was affected by the number of hours he billed. His law firm was organized as an S corporation, so "whatever the profits are at the end of year, they go down to [him.]" He periodically took distributions, which included amounts he billed and collected. He stated the reduction in his billable hours in April and May 2021 reflected a "[d]ollar for dollar," actual loss of income for him. He was not able to make up for the loss by billing additional time in other months. C.B. also confirmed his attendance of the court hearings and physical therapy appointments underlying his additional requests for reimbursement of wage loss.
C.B paid the $10,000 retainer to an outside law firm to seek a civil restraining order against Edelen. C.B. decided he needed to get a restraining order protecting the complex as well as himself because Edelen posted bail quickly and returned...
To continue reading
Request your trial