Saied Malanar was arrested over the weekend after a 17 year-old intern who worked at his store told police that she was shown pornographic images by Malanar on his office computer.
Mr. Malanar will be arraigned tomorrow in Orange County Superior Court. He is in custody at this moment on $1 million bail. While Mr. Malanar agonizes in an Orange County jail about what lies ahead for his future, his family, his freedom, and every other aspect of his life, it bears exploring what issues will become crucial to him in the coming months as he makes his way through the criminal justice system.
First, as always, these are only accusations, and must remain so unless and until a jury enters the room after hearing all the evidence and utters the word "guilty." There is a chance, based on what has been reported, that he did exactly as the accuser alleges. There is also the equal chance that he did nothing that she alleges. The fact that he has been arrested means nothing more than the accuser went to police and made a statement. Unfortunately, that is truly all that is needed in our justice system for the legality of an arrest to be upheld. Yet to be explored are all of the circumstances surrounding these accusations, such as the mental health of the accuser, the accuser's motives for making such a statement, along with every other piece of evidence that tends to exonerate Malanar, which, of course, was not considered by the police/prosecution, who see it as their job to act on the facts that show he is guilty, and -- no doubt with "utmost faith" in the system to bring out the truth -- let the rest "come out in the wash" later.
All of this is what Mr. Malanar is quickly realizing right now: that the police didn't consider his side of things before arresting him; that they did not consider the impact of the arrest on his business, his life, his family; that, in the justice system, there are hundreds of police, judges, court personnel, jail personnel, and support staff, all of whom are employed to make sure he is arrested and held, and brought to court on time, and prosecuted effectively; that against these hundreds of people, there is only one person who will fight for him: his defense attorney.
What will be interesting is what law Mr. Malanar will be charged with violating. It may surprise some that there is no law in California that specifically bans showing porn to a person under 18. There are, however, more general laws designed to protect minors from people who would "contribute to their delinquency" or otherwise "endanger" them. There are also laws to protect people under 18 from individuals who, for that individual's own sexual arousal, talk or act sexually around them. Is showing porn to this 17 year-old any of those? Not necessarily, and therein potentially lies part of his defense.
As soon as Mr. Malanar retains an attorney to fight his case, that person must passionately and voraciously immerse themselves in the law and facts surrounding these accusations to have any chance in the system, especially Orange County's. For his sake, let's hope he hires an attorney willing an able to do that for him.
