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Criminal Defense Attorney Faces Drug Charges

By Jason Armstrong & Sean Windle | Jul. 27, 2002
News

Law Practice

Jul. 27, 2002

Criminal Defense Attorney Faces Drug Charges

RIVERSIDE - A Riverside-based criminal defense attorney who has represented a host of defendants accused of drug-related crimes could go to trial later this year on a variety of charges ranging from drug manufacturing to child endangerment.

By Jason W. Armstrong
Daily Journal Staff Writer
        RIVERSIDE - A Riverside-based criminal defense attorney who has represented a host of defendants accused of drug-related crimes could go to trial later this year on a variety of charges ranging from drug manufacturing to child endangerment.
        After a two-day preliminary hearing at the Hemet courthouse, Riverside County Superior Court Judge James Warren on Wednesday scheduled an Aug. 16 arraignment for Edward Horowitz and his wife, Kristina.
        Warren held the couple to answer on felony charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, manufacturing the drug while possessing a firearm, possession of the drug and child endangerment.
        Individually, Edward Horowitz faces a felony charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance while possessing a firearm. His wife is individually charged with one misdemeanor count of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
        The Horowitzes were arrested in March at their Perris home after Riverside County sheriff's investigators found drugs and weapons in a trailer and a methamphetamine lab in a partially constructed house on the property, authorities said.
        Their 15-year-old daughter was taken into custody by Child Protective Services at the time of the arrest, prosecutors have said. Officials with the agency declined to comment on whether the girl is still in protective custody or living with her parents, who have been free since late March on $110,000 bail each.
        Neither the couple nor their attorneys could be reached for comment.
        Horowitz, 49, was convicted of marijuana possession in 1971, after which he served several weekends in jail for several months. In the 1970s and 1980s, Horowitz owned a bar and sold cars - proceeds from which he used to put himself through classes at Citrus Belt Law School in Riverside.
        Since earning a law degree in 1988, Horowitz has focused on drug and unlawful detainer cases. Over the years, he has been on State Bar probation several times for failing to pay fees or attend court-mandated ethics training.
        Deputy District Attorney Mark Davison, who is prosecuting Horowitz, said in a previous interview that he faced off against the attorney in several drug cases in Riverside County court.
        In one case, Horowitz showed tenacity even though the evidence against his client was damning, Davison has said.
        Investigators who searched defendant James Kirt Lauda's Temecula home found items used to make methamphetamine. The defendant was convicted in May 2000 of making and possessing the drug, Davison has said.
        "It was a pretty tough case for him," the prosecutor said in a previous Daily Journal interview. "The facts were pretty strongly against [Lauda], but he fought for his client."
        Horowitz and his wife, who is 50, each face a maximum of 18 years in prison if convicted on all the counts.

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Jason Armstrong & Sean Windle

Daily Journal Staff Writer

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