SANTA CRUZ -- Murder charges have been filed against two men who were arrested last week in connection with the kidnapping and slaying of a Los Angeles man missing since July 20.
Prosecutor Rob Wade confirmed Tuesday that the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office filed homicide charges against Adam Spencer Hunt, 29, of Watsonville, and Stewart Skuba, 31, of Santa Cruz. Both will be arraigned today on murder, kidnapping and robbery charges in connection with the death of 29-year-old Elias Sorokin, a Los Angeles businessman who was last heard from while driving on the Fishhook in Santa Cruz. Police say his death was the result of a drug deal gone bad, but have declined to release specifics.
Sorokin's body has not been found, though police have continued their search.
"We are going to exhaust every possible avenue we need to," said Lt. Rudy Escalante of the Santa Cruz Police Department.
Tuesday, they were using a "grid searching method" as well as cadaver dogs near Bonny Doon in the Santa Cruz Mountains, according Escalante.
Police admit they have no idea where Sorokin's body is. His scorched pickup was found Tuesday off Empire Grade Road on State Parks property about a mile from Smith Grade Road. Police believe he was killed before his truck was dumped, although Tuesday they were searching near where his truck was found.
"It was covered once, but there's nothing wrong with covering an area a second time," Escalante said.
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Police said they are committed to continuing the search for Sorokin's remains. Tuesday evening, they were sifting through other leads to find other viable search areas that they will canvas today.
"We don't have a timetable of when we're going to stop looking," Escalante said. "We're going to just keep looking."
Wade said the ongoing investigation led the District Attorney's Office to file homicide charges Tuesday.
"That information reflected that he's been killed," Wade said, though without a body he said they can't confirm the manner of death. Police have not disclosed how they believe Sorokin was killed.
Three men have been arrested as part of the investigation that also involved the FBI and Department of Justice. Kenneth Clamp, 39, a Santa Cruz construction worker, was arrested early Friday and is being held without bail on a drug-related parole violation and is thought to be "peripherally involved", investigators said.
Hunt surrendered to Santa Cruz police at 12:40 a.m. Saturday and was booked into County Jail. He and Skuba are being held on $1 million bail.
Friends last spoke to Elias Sorokin, 29, as he drove from Oakland to Santa Cruz on July 20. Two days later, a couple tried to use his credit cards and checks at businesses in Santa Cruz and Watsonville, which prompted local authorities to become involved in his disappearance.
Skuba, 31, who identifies himself as a hair stylist, was arrested Thursday in South County, then taken to the Santa Cruz police station and questioned. Hunt identifies himself as a laborer. The three men are acquaintances and all have criminal records, according to police.
Police believe the men had a prearranged meeting with Sorokin to sell a large amount of marijuana and that the deal went sour at a condominium at 244 Felix St. in Santa Cruz. The FBI and Department of Justice were at the Felix Street location Friday collecting evidence.
Investigators have not said if they recovered the drugs involved in the deal and have not disclosed whether anything else was stolen from Sorokin. Watsonville police arrested two men who allegedly were using Sorokin's credit cards at South County businesses, but those men have not been charged in connection with Sorokin's disappearance and death.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
‘The Best Lawyers In America’ Honors 40 Gardere Attorneys
DALLAS/HOUSTON/AUSTIN – Forty lawyers from the Dallas, Houston and Austin offices of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP have been honored among 2010’s “Best Lawyers in America.”
Published by Woodward/White Inc., “The Best Lawyers in America” is widely regarded as one of the most respected surveys of U.S. lawyers. Attorneys are selected following a rigorous process in which thousands of the country’s top lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. More than 2 million detailed evaluations are reviewed in compiling the selections.
This year’s honorees from the firm’s Dallas office: Val J. Albright, Tax Law; Mark W. Bayer, Antitrust Law; Cynthia J. Bishop, Environmental Law; Michael J. Donohue, Tax Law; Curtis L. Frisbie Jr., Antitrust Law and Commercial Litigation; Jeffrey M. Gaba, Environmental Law; Kenneth R. Glaser, Intellectual Property Law; Lawrence E. Glasgow, Corporate Law and Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Lawrence B. Goldstein, Corporate Law; Douglas A. Harrison, Family Law; Joe B. Harrison, Commercial Litigation and Personal Injury Litigation; Jack W. Hawkins, Trusts and Estates; Cym H. Lowell, Tax Law; Stephen A. McCartin, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Keith V. Novick, Trusts and Estates; Holland N. O'Neil, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Alan J. Perkins, Corporate Law; Frances E. Phillips, Environmental Law; Richard M. Roberson, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Deirdre B. Ruckman, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Robert Sarfatis, Corporate Law; Larry L. Schoenbrun, Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, Corporate Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, and Securities Law; Richard A. Tulli, Corporate Law; and Peter Vogel, Communications Law and Information Technology Law.
From the Houston office: Michael A. Abbott, Employee Benefits Law; Geoffrey H. Bracken, Oil & Gas Law; Michael P. Cash, Mass Tort Litigation; Allen B. Craig III, Corporate Law and Tax Law; Barbara Spudis De Marigny, Tax Law; Richard O. Faulk, Environmental Law; Thomas A. Hagemann, Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Elizabeth Howard, Structured Finance Law; Mark R. Martin, Tax Law; William E. Matthews, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Legal Malpractice Law; John P. Melko, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; John R. Pearson, Maritime Law; Lawrence J. Pirtle, Trusts and Estates; Frank M. Putman, Corporate Law; and N.L. Stevens III, Corporate Law.
From the Austin office: Mark Vane, Government Relations Law.
Three Gardere attorneys, Jack Hawkins, Cym Lowell and Larry Schoenbrun, have been included in the Best Lawyers listing for 20 years or longer. William Matthews, Fran Phillips, Lawrence Pirtle and Frank Putman have each been recognized for at least 10 years. Four others – Elizabeth Howard, Michael Cash, Jeffrey Gaba, and Michael Donohue – were first-time honorees.
Additionally, with three attorneys from the firm’s Environmental group receiving individual honors, the firm was the top ranked Environmental Law practice in Dallas.
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, an AmLaw 200 firm celebrating 100 years in 2009 and one of the Southwest’s largest full-service law firms, has offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City. Gardere provides legal services to private and public companies and individuals in areas of energy, hospitality, litigation, corporate, tax, environmental, labor and employment, intellectual property and financial services.
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Published by Woodward/White Inc., “The Best Lawyers in America” is widely regarded as one of the most respected surveys of U.S. lawyers. Attorneys are selected following a rigorous process in which thousands of the country’s top lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. More than 2 million detailed evaluations are reviewed in compiling the selections.
This year’s honorees from the firm’s Dallas office: Val J. Albright, Tax Law; Mark W. Bayer, Antitrust Law; Cynthia J. Bishop, Environmental Law; Michael J. Donohue, Tax Law; Curtis L. Frisbie Jr., Antitrust Law and Commercial Litigation; Jeffrey M. Gaba, Environmental Law; Kenneth R. Glaser, Intellectual Property Law; Lawrence E. Glasgow, Corporate Law and Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Lawrence B. Goldstein, Corporate Law; Douglas A. Harrison, Family Law; Joe B. Harrison, Commercial Litigation and Personal Injury Litigation; Jack W. Hawkins, Trusts and Estates; Cym H. Lowell, Tax Law; Stephen A. McCartin, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Keith V. Novick, Trusts and Estates; Holland N. O'Neil, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Alan J. Perkins, Corporate Law; Frances E. Phillips, Environmental Law; Richard M. Roberson, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Deirdre B. Ruckman, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; Robert Sarfatis, Corporate Law; Larry L. Schoenbrun, Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, Corporate Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, and Securities Law; Richard A. Tulli, Corporate Law; and Peter Vogel, Communications Law and Information Technology Law.
From the Houston office: Michael A. Abbott, Employee Benefits Law; Geoffrey H. Bracken, Oil & Gas Law; Michael P. Cash, Mass Tort Litigation; Allen B. Craig III, Corporate Law and Tax Law; Barbara Spudis De Marigny, Tax Law; Richard O. Faulk, Environmental Law; Thomas A. Hagemann, Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Elizabeth Howard, Structured Finance Law; Mark R. Martin, Tax Law; William E. Matthews, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Legal Malpractice Law; John P. Melko, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law; John R. Pearson, Maritime Law; Lawrence J. Pirtle, Trusts and Estates; Frank M. Putman, Corporate Law; and N.L. Stevens III, Corporate Law.
From the Austin office: Mark Vane, Government Relations Law.
Three Gardere attorneys, Jack Hawkins, Cym Lowell and Larry Schoenbrun, have been included in the Best Lawyers listing for 20 years or longer. William Matthews, Fran Phillips, Lawrence Pirtle and Frank Putman have each been recognized for at least 10 years. Four others – Elizabeth Howard, Michael Cash, Jeffrey Gaba, and Michael Donohue – were first-time honorees.
Additionally, with three attorneys from the firm’s Environmental group receiving individual honors, the firm was the top ranked Environmental Law practice in Dallas.
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, an AmLaw 200 firm celebrating 100 years in 2009 and one of the Southwest’s largest full-service law firms, has offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City. Gardere provides legal services to private and public companies and individuals in areas of energy, hospitality, litigation, corporate, tax, environmental, labor and employment, intellectual property and financial services.
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