Countywide : Attorney Charged With 4 Felonies
An Orange County attorney has been charged with two felony counts of perjury and two of falsifying evidence in connection with a civil case in Ventura County, a Ventura County prosecutor said Friday.
Robert Blair Kennedy, 52, of Orange is accused of altering phone records in an attempt to set aside a Municipal Court judgment last May against his client, Hardric Labs of Massachusetts, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Hardy.
Kennedy did not attend the May hearing, in which Hardric Labs was trying to collect $20,000 from Ventura Optical Industries for allegedly unpaid bills, Hardy said. His absence prompted the default judgment.
Kennedy was successful in a bid to set aside the default judgment in December, claiming a Ventura Optical official gave him permission to file late during a conversation the day before the hearing.
“Mr. Kennedy took a General Telephone bill and appeared to ‘white out’ a call from the day before the hearing and altered it to read Ventura Optical,” Hardy said. “He then lied in several hearings to that effect.”
Attorney George Eskin, who will represent Kennedy at his arraignment Monday morning, said Kennedy has been in turmoil because of the criminal investigation.
In an agreement with the district attorney’s office, Kennedy will surrender himself at the 9 a.m. hearing.
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